Question for the Private Stock informed...
- Thread starter clasbtenn
- Start date
jfb
Plank Owner
Only if they are maple shells?!
So, with all these different woods, which would PRS use to build a guitar where the wood takes the least away from the tone?
I'm just guessing here, but if Paul sent a guitar to a museum and it was a standard build with mahogany, maple and rosewood, instead of sending a guitar built of more exotic wood types, maybe these woods taking something away from the musical nature of the guitar, add up to what sounds the most pleasant.
We do after all base the tones we seek on this basic recipe, and then change out some of the wood to bring out different tones within the entire guitar. For example, switching out the mahogany neck for maple, or some rosewood variation, or the fret board of rosewood for ebony, maple or some other wood. Or the flame eastern maple for a softer western variety.
I don't know, but I think no wood offers all the frequencies. It becomes a matter of substitution to find a combination that offers the most pleasing tones with the most sustain.
I also know that carbon fiber has a wider frequency response then any wood. No one who has heard my carbon fiber guitars has told me the guitar has a bad sound. Every musician that has heard these guitars has remarked how woody and organic it sounds. They were very surprised after learning what the guitar was built of.
I'm just guessing here, but if Paul sent a guitar to a museum and it was a standard build with mahogany, maple and rosewood, instead of sending a guitar built of more exotic wood types, maybe these woods taking something away from the musical nature of the guitar, add up to what sounds the most pleasant.
We do after all base the tones we seek on this basic recipe, and then change out some of the wood to bring out different tones within the entire guitar. For example, switching out the mahogany neck for maple, or some rosewood variation, or the fret board of rosewood for ebony, maple or some other wood. Or the flame eastern maple for a softer western variety.
I don't know, but I think no wood offers all the frequencies. It becomes a matter of substitution to find a combination that offers the most pleasing tones with the most sustain.
I also know that carbon fiber has a wider frequency response then any wood. No one who has heard my carbon fiber guitars has told me the guitar has a bad sound. Every musician that has heard these guitars has remarked how woody and organic it sounds. They were very surprised after learning what the guitar was built of.
toothace
Zombie Thirteen, DFZ
Have you heard back from the PS Team? What were there thoughts on your questions?
No I haven't. I sent in an email asking what the difference was between the mahogany wood offerings in PS would be for necks. So far no response.
11top
Cousin Eddie's cousin
I don't.
But what makes you think Paul got there first? They got the first ziracote neck blanks from me.
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Does anyone know what species of mahogany is the most common one used for mahogany necks by PRS?
That was one of the questions I requested to be answered by the support people.
I have never read any place what type of mahogany it is that PRS uses the most.
That was one of the questions I requested to be answered by the support people.
I have never read any place what type of mahogany it is that PRS uses the most.
Having had a carbon fiber acoustic, a bass with a carbon fiber neck, and even a PRS acoustic with a carbon fiber truss rod, I'd guess that the material is less "subtractive" in some frequencies than wood - and it doesn't ring like metal.
I like carbon fiber more as a neck material than I do as a material for an acoustic guitar, but all that said, I still like wooden guitars and necks best.
So here's my question: if you like the frequency response of a carbon fiber guitar, and believe that it's as woody as wood, why on earth would you drop a boatload of money on a Private Stock wooden guitar? Looks? Tone? What?
Speaking of these different wood densities, I once got to play a purple heart body guitar and it sounded thin and terrible.
High density woods do not mean that a guitar will have superior tones. What one wood lacks in density may possibly equate to a more desirable tone...maybe.
ymmv
High density woods do not mean that a guitar will have superior tones. What one wood lacks in density may possibly equate to a more desirable tone...maybe.
ymmvWhat I like about my carbon fiber guitars is the playability, weight, sustain, and tone. However, man does not live by carbon fiber alone. I've owned and played these carbon fiber guitars for 8+ years. I have owned my Vigier with it's carbon fiber neck truss rod for 5 years. It's funny that I was told by PRS that they would not offer a graphite truss rod system with a maple neck, as it may warp. My Vigier has a flamed maple neck and is perfect,
I was thinking of ordering a True Historic LP, but upon looking into PRS, I felt that it was a much better use of my money to go PS. Carbon fiber guitars for me are not the end-all, or be-all. While I love playing them and everything about them, I do like change. It was just pure **** luck that PRS decided to come out with a 594 within a few months of me deciding to look into buying a PRS. Had I jumped for a Core model sooner, I would have missed the 594, all of the knowledge you players here have been so generous to offer up to me, and the excitement of the choosing wood, building process, and the happy ending that comes with it all.
Speaking of these different wood densities, I once got to play a purple heart body guitar and it sounded thin and terrible.
High density woods do not mean that a guitar will have superior tones. What one wood lacks in density may possibly equate to a more desirable tone...maybe.
I agree with this completely. A friend had a "hippie sandwich" guitar from Alembic that had purple heart and other dense woods in its construction, and I didn't grok anything about it. But he loved it!
Which shows that we're all different, of course. I like guitars made with woods that have been tried and true for the past umpteen eons. Of course, that doesn't mean that there aren't exceptions -- of course there are, and I'm sure that Kingsley could give us a dissertation on unusual woods used in guitars like the ones by his pal Ken Parker made of woods like Myrtle.
Still, looking over at my tiny group of electric guitars, my favorites to date, they all have this in common: mahogany backs, mahogany necks, maple tops, and rosewood fretboards...it's clearly a formula that works for me. Though I do like ebony fretboards as well, and at some point I'll get one with ebony.
YMMV and all that.
I have a PRS acoustic with a graphite truss rod in a maple neck, and it's perfect. I love maple acoustics with spruce tops.
Maybe I'm just lucky, but no warp. Possibly others had problems and they decided that it wasn't a good idea.
I really love mine, however.
11top
Cousin Eddie's cousin
Dusty Chalk
alberngruppenführer
(dons contrarian hat) Well, wait a second, if it sounds woody, doesn't that mean that wood is the ideal, not carbon fiber?
By the way, I completely agree that it's a matter of "most pleasant" tone, and not the tone with the least personality. I guess what I was trying to point out with the two different opinions was that it's extremely subjective, to the point where even if most people agree that a tone is inferior because it was less warm, there is still an audience for it. (There might be other cases of inferior tone where there isn't, but my point is just because a majority says it is so -- in matters of subjectivity -- does not make it necessarily so.) I, in particular, acknowledge that I have unorthodox tastes in guitar tone, that often fall to the minority camp rather than the majority.
I agree with your main paragraph.
One thing about carbon fiber sounding woody. In a blind test, without previous information being given, I don't believe the majority of those engaged in a blind test would pick out carbon fiber. As I interpret it, sounding like another material does not take anything away from carbon fiber. It only enhances it's likability for me.
I don't want a guitar to sound, shall we say "unnatural", or "plastic". I want the woody, organic tones but, if I can get that without the extra weight, and with the consistancy that carbon fiber achieves this sound, then why not use it?
At 5 pounds, and with the most ergonomic, comfortable platform I have ever used, even more then a strat, I get the strength, ability to resist dings and other damage, imperviousness to weather and humidity changes, which normally affect wood in some way, and still achieve all the tonal offerings I get from wood, I see no down-side.
Another thing I have heard in the past concerning carbon fiber guitars is that they "feel" like plastic when played.
I have to laugh at this statement, since the guitar is shot with lacquer, which wooden guitars also have. How can one feel plastic when covering the material is lacquer? I believe that some people are feeling with their eyes, and not their hands.
Certainly, not all material of a modern type is going to appeal to everyone. However, I have found that at least trying different guitar offerings made of different materials may, in some cases, open up the mind and allow one to experience new and possibly as good, or better experiences then what they had previously thought to be no good. It works for me, and I'm happy that I was open enough to try it.
This trying out of different ideas in musical instruments has lead me to Vigier guitars as well. While they are a 21st century version of the Strat, I like it much better then the 20th century version. Carbon fiber here is being used as PRS has recently started doing, using carbon fiber in necks for non-adjustable truss rods. Better sustain, no dead spots, impervious to not only climatic changes and humidity, but these necks can take any gauge string desired without having to make neck adjustments.
They also have developed the use of ball bearings for their tremolo instead of relying on screws or a knife edge. It is the smoothest, most reliable trem I have ever used.
I tend to agree, they feel fine to me. And the fact that they never need adjustments is a plus. I liked my Modulus Graphite bass.
Plastic is a little cooler to the touch than wood, maybe that's what they're saying?
I have only played one guitar with a Honduran RW neck, (it was a prs PS semi hollow c 22) and it sounded really, really good. Not sure if it was the neck wood or not, but it sounded "different" than other guitars, and in a really good way. Very impressive.
I just got my answer back from customer service. They said that of the majority of people they asked, most said to go with the figured mahogany as Paul, and the custom shop team tried different woods and felt that the original type used on the 594 PS February model offered the best for what the team was looking for from this guitar.
The 594 was designed to sound like a classic burst; those used the hog/hog/maple construction, so do these.
Tone formula!
Why fix what ain't broken?
I wasn't trying to fix it, Les, but I wanted to know what made the different mahogany woods different one-to-the-next.
I was going to put some type of mahogany neck on it, but for that kind of money, I didn't feel the question was out of place.
I was going to put some type of mahogany neck on it, but for that kind of money, I didn't feel the question was out of place.
